Work-Related Violence in Washington State

Safety & Health Assessment & Research for Prevention (SHARP)  Research for Safe Work

Workplace violence has received increasing attention in recent years. Although the media tend to focus on dramatic events, like homicides by former employees or co-workers, public health research shows that assaults on caregivers are far more common. The perpetrators of the violent acts are frequently under the victim's care: as either patients or recipients of social services.

SHARP recently updated its analysis of work-related violence in Washington State. Data for 2000 through 2005 were collected from the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I), the Federal government's Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) and the Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses.

The objectives of this workplace violence study are to:

Identify high risk occupations and industries.

Compare Washington State to the nation as a whole.

Describe recent trends in workplace violence.

Identify opportunities for workplace violence prevention.

Results from analysis

Our analysis shows:

Homicide was the fifth leading cause of workplace deaths in Washington State, an average of six such cases per year. There was a marked decline in the number of homicides during the study period.

There was an annual average of 2,094 workers' compensation claims related to violence, or about 12 claims per 10,000 full time workers.

The number of violence-related claims for the period 2000-2005 was approximately 12 percent lower than that for the period 1995-2000.

Health Care and Social Assistance is the highest risk major industry. Although violence-related claims rates fell by 35 percent during the study period, the claims rate in this industry is about five times higher than for all industries combined.

Psychiatric and Substance Abuse Hospitals saw an increase of over 81 percent in their violence-related claims rates during the study period. In contrast, violence-related claims rates in other Health Care and Social Assistance industries fell throughout the study period (see chart below).

Health- and social service-related occupations accounted for approximately one-half of all violence-related claims over the study period. Nurses' aides and orderlies, police officers, health aides, psychiatric aides, social workers and private security guards had the highest number of violence-related claims.